Sex offender awaits second chance at freedom

6:43 PM,
Feb. 5, 2014

Eric Hendrickson in his late teens. He committed a sexual assault at age 19 and served about seven years in prison for the crime. He has been confined a total of 20 years, most of them at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center.

Written by

Nora G. Hertel
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Dianne Hendrickson misses her son, Eric, who at age 39 has been locked up for more than half his life. He finished his criminal sentence in 2002 but has been held in a secure mental institution since then, deemed by the state to be a sexually violent person.

Eric Hendrickson, originally from the Wausau area, has been confined more than twice as long as his original sentence and is now held for the future risk he poses, not for past crimes.

"I think it's wrong to take away someone's freedom for something someone has not done," said Dianne Hendrickson, who adopted Eric, her only child, at birth. ...